“Always choose a lazy man to do a difficult job, because he will find an easy way to do it.” A funny quote, usually (and questionably) attributed to Bill Gates. The saying always struck me as unfair. If someone finds an easy way to do a difficult job, they are not lazy, they are smart. And besides that, some things are far from as simple as they seem. I was reminded of my point of view when a so called lazy designer went viral.

What’s the buzz?

The lazy designer that I mentioned found a brilliant way to advertise upcoming shows in music venue The Friars, a pub in Bridgnorth, England. He took a well known format and edited this to fit the message he needed to get across. When you look at the result, you quickly realize that this trick gets part of the news value from it’s uniqueness. He was the first and that’s why it’s funny. However, all jokes aside, this design does stand for something.

Looks can be deceiving

What amuses me, is that (part of) the world really seems to think that he just printed a screenshot from an iMessage conversation.As a result he goes viral as the lazy designer. Of course, just using a screenshot would not leave you with printable quality. It is also very unlikely that the conversation, if it actually took place at all, took place in this exact form.

Under the surface

Let’s take a look at the design. From coming up with a new concept, to exactly recreating an iMessage screen, he nailed it. The add is clean-cut, clever, funny and extremely effective. So the designer in this case actually put a lot of work into his product.

Part of the work likely went in keeping the add as uncomplicated as possible, which is not all that easy. This add is not in any way an example of a lazy designer. It’s a perfect example of how a simple exterior is completely unrelated to what’s under the hood.